Typewriting machine



- Feb; 8,1927. 7 1,617,193'

. J. H. S. BATES TYPEWRITIN MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1924' Affa/we vPatented Feb. 8, 1927. I

um, smi- JAMES H. s. Barns, or OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON, essrsnoaro UNDERWOODrYrn- WRITER COMPANY, or NEw Yome-N. Y-., A ooeronerron or nnnewnnnzrvrnwnrrine MACHINE.

Appfication 11166. January as, 1924. Serial No. 689.240,

I 'This invention relates to ribbon-guarding and guiding means fortypewriting machines, and particularly to means to prevent the ribbonfrom foulingwith the usualtype bar guide on an Underwood portablefrontstrike typewriting machine.

At the shifting up of the platen, the lower edge of the ribbon iscarriedhighabove the guide, and when the ribbon dropsto normal position,there is a tendency for it to catch on the type-guide. This is apt tohappen when operating rapidly, especially when the platen isdroppedbefore the operator releases the type-key.

To overcome thzs objection, a shield or guard is secured to thetype-guideto extend upwardly to a point beyond the lower edge I of theribbon when the latter is in its extreme top position.

j teg'ral with the type-barguide;

Such guard may be attachabl'e, or it may be made an integral part of thetype-guide.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear. I I

In the accompanying drawings, I Figure 1 is a view, in'front elevation,of a portionrof a portable Underwood typewriter, showing an attachableform of the invention, with I the platen in lower-case position and theribbon in its normal position below the printing line.

Figure 2 is a section taken on 22 of-Figure 1.:

Figure '3 is similar to Figure 1, showing the line the platen inlower-case position and the ribbon positioned for, printing in its lowerfield.

1 Figure ti's a view similar to Figures 1 f and 3, showing the-platen inits upper-case position and the ribbon positioned for printing in itslower field,the lower edge-of the ribbon being shown at its highestelevation.

Figure 5 is a perspective View of the form shownvin Figures 1 to l.v

able guard.

Figure 7 is a perspective View of one element of the shield shown inFigure 6.

I Figure 8 shows upstanding extensionsin I Type-bars 11, each pivoted toa plate 12, strike on a platen 10, on carriage 13 running on front rail1 land-'roll'er-bearing 15 and rear mille and roller-bearing 15*.

Rails 14 and 1e and carriage 13 may bedis- "in the well-known manner.

.mechanisms for segment- I in Figure 2. Made fast by screws 16 tosegment-plate 12 is a type bar-guide in the 7 form of a plate 17 havingupwardly-extending fingers 18 making a guidefi19 for the. I

shoulder 20 on the type-bar. Guideplate 17 may also. be provided with anopening 21 of suficientwidth and located so as to en- I able the typistto clearly see thegraduations and numerals on the usual scale 22therebehind. The lower edge of opening-21 may have an index-pointer 23centrally thereof and in true-alignment with the printingpositiondesignated in Figures 1, 3 and 4 as X. As guide-plate 17 accommodates apart ofv the printing point indicating means described above,ribbon-supporting arms '37 on a vibrator 30 "of a ribbon-vibratingmechanism are necessarily spaced a relatively wide distance apart oneach side of theprinting point X. A guide 24 for the ribbon-vibrator maybe fastened to rail 14: by screws 25, and may comprise a bodyportion 26and two forwardly-extending portions 27 terminating inupwardly-extendadjacent'slot 32 engages with cross-bar 33 of thecarriage 13-to assist in holding the carriage 13 on the raill, asshown'in Figure 2.

; An inwardlyprojecting arm 3% of a vi brating actuating -mechan1sm, notshown,

may be connected to lieadedstud 35 extending forwardly oftheribbon-vibrator 30 (see Figures 1 and 2). Stud 35, in operation,

7 Y moves upwardlywith arm 34to bring rib- Figure 6 shows a modifiedform of atta'ch-' bon 36, carried on ribbon-supporting arms 37, to theprinting point. 1 Ribbon 36 may be laterally fedbetween spools, notshown, The actuating spools and feed arrangement for ribbon 36,

and the case-shifting means for platen 10 form no-detailed part of thepresent inven-Q tion, and may be like'those 'in' th'e patent to i GeorgeVVL Campbell, No. 1,310,281, granted March 1,1921. i I

the ribbon-vibrator 30,

lVhen operating typewriting machines having the specific features andarrangement of parts described above or their equivalents at high rat-esof speed, if, in improper sequence, the platen '10 be shifted from ahigher to a lower case position before the typebar 11 is released, theribbon 86 will hang on the type. This will cause the portion of ribbon36, between the ribbonsupporting arms 37, over guidefingeis18 to becomeslack and curl when the type-bar 11 'andthe ribbon-vibrator subsequentlyreturn totheir normal position. This slack in ribbon 36 has a tendency,during the lowering thereof between type-impressions, to catch onguide-fingers 18.

The invention provides a guard or shield 38 to prevent interferencebetween the ribbon 36 and guide-plate 17, which may be of aform that isreadily attachable to guide plate 17 or to other-guide-plat-es ofmachines already in use. Guard 38 may eompris'ea body-piece 39, havingan upper portion formed into two upstanding spaced wings lO whose outersides 41 are, forwardly bent to "provide smooth edges, and the lowerportlOllOf body-piece 39 may be suitably fashion-ed to provide securingmeans for fastening to guide-plate 17, as forwardly bent clips 42. Fora. more permanent form of attachable mounting, shield 38 may be made "oftwo separate parts, each having an upper portion similar to wings 4-0 inthe first form'described,and a lower portion 39 may be solderedtotheupper part ofguide-plate 17 (see Figures 6 and 7). V

The ribbon-guard v 38, placed to shield the path of'the ribbon 36, willeliminate the effectof any possible interference with its-normalmovements from the cause described or for any other reason that may havethe same objectionable tendency.

It'is quite obvious that the invention may form a combined type-barguiding and rib bon guarding device, in which the free ends of the guidefingers 18 are extended 'up- 'war'dly and outwardly to form wings lO asshown in Figure 8.

Inthe preferred form shown in'Figures 1 to '5, it will be noted that theinner edges of the two wings 40 taper from the upper free ends downwardto the width of the type-guide, and, as the direct cause of theribbon'catching on the type-guide is alooseness developed in theribbon-section between the arms 28' of'the ribbon-carrier due to thetyping action, this lo'oseness, if it manifests itself by bulgingforward over the typeguide, will contact with the edges or the wings4:0,and, through the tapering 'of these edges, the bulgingribbon-section will be forced to the rear of said guide and avoidanypossibility of catching thereon. "Variations may be resorted towithin the ope of the inventioin and portions of the improvements may beused Without others. Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. In a front-stroke typewriting machine,

in combination, a ribbon-vibrator to vibrate a ribbon up and down at theprinting point,

a type-guide in front of the ribbon, and means .to prevent interferencebetween the type-guide and the movements of the ribbon extending acrossthe printing line close to,

and on opposite sides of thetype-guide,-and in front of said vibrator'toguard the ribbon from interference in its vibratory movements with thetype-guide during typin In a front-striketypewriting machine,

the combination ofa platen, platen-shifting mechanism, a vibrator foroscillating a ribbon up and down at the printing "point of the platen, astationary element,atype guide on said element, and means to shieldthe'path of the ribbon and to guard it from being interfered with duringits return movement, said means comprising a forlred'member secured tosaid stationary element below the printing line,the free ends of saidmember extending upwardly on opposite sides of the type-guide beyond tis lower edge of the ribbon when the latter'is in position for typing onits lower field while the platen is held in its upper-case position bythe platen-shifting mechanism. 4. In a front-strike typewriting machine,in combination,a platen, type bars carrying types supported to print-ata 'commonprinting point, a type-bar guide, a vibrator for oscillating aribbon located between .the platen and the type-bar guide, and a-guardon'said guide to shield the ribbon 'in its normal movements frominterference with the guide. 7

, lna'front-strilre typewriting machine,

in combination, a platen, type-bars carrying types supported to print ata single-printing point, a type-bar guide securedto a fixed part of themachine, 'a' vibrator for osciland the type-bar guide, andaribbon-guardon sa1d guide to avoidc'atclnng the ribbon thereon, sa1d guardextending-across the printing line on opposite sides of the*print-' ingpo'int, a type-bar guide, a vibrator for V oscillating a ribbon up anddown between the platen and the type-bar guide, a ribbon,- guardcomprising a forked membersecured lating ,a ribbon located between theplaten positioned in front of said arms, said device comprising atype-bar guide to guide the 7 In a front-strike typewriting machine,

in combination, a platen mounted for case shifting, type-bars carryingtypes supported to print at a single printing point, a vibratorhavingribbon-supporting arms widely spaced thereon for oscillatingaribbon up and down, a stationary support, and a de vice secured to saidstationary support and type-bars for centering the types, and .a guardhaving tapered faces to guide the ribbon from interference with thestationary support. I

8. In a front-strike typewriting machine, in combination, a platenmounted for caseshifting, type-bars carrying types supported to print ata single printing point, a vibrator having ribbon-supporting arms widelyspaced thereon for oscillating a ribbon up and down, a stationarysupport, and a device secured tosaid stationary support and positionedin front of said arms, said device comprising a guide to guide thetype-bars for centering the types, and a guard extenda ing across theprinting line on opposite sides of the printing point and conditioned toreduce the exposed ribbon area between the vibrator arms to avoid thecatching of the ribbon on the stationary support.

9. In a front-strike typewriting machine, in combination, a platenmounted for caseshifting, type-bars carrying types supported to print ata single printing point, a vibrator having ribbon-supporting arms widelyspaced thereon for oscillating a ribbon up and down, a stationaryelement and a typebar-guiding and ribbon-shielding device secured tosaid stationary element and ex' tending in front of said arms, saiddevice comprising a guide-plate to guide the typebars for centering thetypes, and a forked member secured to the guide-plate below the printingline and having the free ends of said member extending upwardly onopposite sides of the printing point beyond lower edge of the ribbonwhen the latter is 'in position for typing in thelower field and theplaten is shifted to the upper-case position, to )revent the-ribbon fromcatching on the gui e-plate and to guide the ribbon to its normal pathofmovement.

'10. In a front-strike typewriting machine, in combination, a platen,type-bars carrying types supported to print at a single printing point,a type-bar guide having upwardlyextending guide-fingers, a passagedefined by the fingers for guiding the type-bars and centering thetypes, a vibrator for oscillating a ribbon located between the platenand the f type-bar guide and a guard extending upwardly from saidfingers to shield the ribbon from interference with the type-bar guidereducing the exposed areav of the ribbon at the printing position.

11. In a front-strike typewriting machine,

in combination, avplaten, typebarscarrying types supported to print at asingle punt-- mg point, a type-bar guide having a print-' lng-pointindlcatmg means thereon secured I to a fixed part of the machine,guide-fingers extending upwardly over said indicating means, a passagedefined by the fingers for guiding the type-bars and centering thetypes, a vibrator having supporting arms widely spaced thereonforoscillating a ribbon up and down, and a guard secured to said fingersand extending upwardly therefrom beyond the lower edge of the ribbonwhen the latter is in its extreme upper operative position to shield theribbon from interference and to guide the same to its nor mal path ofmovement.

12. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a platen and type-barstherefor, a

type-bar-guide in front of the'platen and below the typing positionthereon, a rib bon-carrier operable to vibrate airibbon up and down tocover and uncover the printing position, and a ribbon-shield secured tothe type-bar-guide in front of the ribbon. and provided with taperingribbon-engaging edges to prevent the ribbon from'catching upon saidguide during the downward movement thereof.

- JAMES H s. B'Arns.

